Hard Hats of Niagara: The Niagara Power Project

Hard Hats of Niagara,
　
is a true story first person narrative from the men and women who were there for the construction of the Niagara Power Project.The reader is transported to the worksite, to see, smell, taste, and personally witness the organized chaos of the largest construction project of its time. Visits to smoky bars with a frontier atmosphere are part of the literary journey. Workers were pitted against the extremes of the elements and unprecedented risks. Their families, loves and losses are blended into the action and high adventure of life on the power project.
　
Twenty men were victims of fatal accidents. The Memorials section pays tribute to them. Completed in only three years, the Niagara Power Project remains unprecedented in scope, size and time to completion.
　
Following are excerpts from their stories:
　
Tony LaMacchia was a Teamster: Euc' Skinner"Bright orange flames wrapped around my truck's windshield. I flung the door open and jumped. I landed in muck up to my waist. The more I struggled, the deeper I sank. It was midnight and I was alone."
　
　
Betty Gelfand R.N. Nightingale of the Power Project"I descended into the darkness. The steep wooden stairwell seemed to sway. I forced myself to just keep clamoring downward one hundred feet to where the injured man laid. How would we get him out of that hole?"
　
　
Joe DiLabio was a Laborer: Graveyards to Jet Crash"The fighter jet flew low just above us, spewing black smoke and sparks. It went under the Lewiston Queenston Bridge, banked sharply, and exploded into the wall of the gorge."
　
　
Ed Lozaw was an Operating Engineer, Oiler: Finger Sandwich"I didn't feel a thing. I had to look twice. My finger was gone. Jack, the crane operator, turned white and got sick when I showed him the weeping stub."
　
　
Jerry Farrell, Laborer: Success Through the Ranks "We were at the bottom of the conduit trench. A tremendous blow hit me between the shoulder-blades and knocked me to the ground. "I felt as if a flaming meteor slammed a hole in my back. I laid there in intense pain; I could not move my lower body. Even worse, my legs were numb."
　
　
Kelly Gwin, Supply Contractor: Neptune's Booty"Our diver said the current was vicious. In spite of an earlier disaster, we were confident we could salvage the sunken Euclid truck from the roaring depths of the Niagara Gorge."
　
　
Allen Vandenbosch, Operating Engineer: Wild West Days"Men from the Seaway Project came down from Massena and stayed at the Frontier House. The proprietor's lovely redheaded wife would glow in the pall of cigarette smoke and spark the rock and roll music."
　
Ken Glennon, Timekeeper: Witch of the Fog"I was captivated by her sculpted red lips as she spoke, 'I want to show you something'... "A dim light glowed from the back of the supply room. 'Come in, over here,' she continued, while prancing her high heels across the bare wood floor.
　
Jerry Sehl, Warehouse Supervisor: Another Man's Wife"He barged up to me and gruffly said, 'Did you know you were dancing with my wife?'...
"His coarse manner irritated me. I did not want to be drawn into a downward spiraling apology, where the more I groveled the more he gloated. I heard myself say, 'No I didn't know, but I'll tell ya' she is one hell of a good dancer.'
　
Hard Hats of Niagara is over 300 pages of history and action, featuring 46 chapters and 139 historic photo's. It documents the struggles of the Tuscarora Nation in fighting for the sovereignty of their land. The complex project is explained in concise detail relating the volumes of earth, rock and concrete, which were blasted moved and poured to make the project reality. Explosions of dynamite, truck wrecks, a plane crash are among hundreds of exciting events included in this reader involved epic.